Temperatures are expected it hit the high 20s this weekend, with warm, sunny weather expected to continue across most of the country next week.
Lindley reservoir near Otley in the West Yorkshire with low water levels (Photo: Richard McCarthy/PA)
On Thursday Yorkshire joined the North West of England to become the second part of the UK to enter official drought status.
Drought
“It is very concerning that we’ve got two regions now in drought status,” said Dr Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading.
It is up to the Environment Agency (EA) to decide whether an area is in drought. There is no single definition, but instead the regulator monitors a number of factors, including rainfall, river flows, groundwater levels and reservoir storage.
Hosepipe bans are increasingly likely in parts of the country (Photo: Hugh R Hastings/Getty)
She added Britons should already be taking “simple” precautions, such as shortening showers and watering plants with watering cans.
Professor Cloke said the drought also increases the risk of flash flooding if we get the “wrong type” of rainfall, meaning sudden heavy downpours from thunderstorms.
Food shortages
Farmers are struggling after an exceptionally dry few months, impacting crops planted in the spring such as wheat, barley, and potatoes.
While George said supermarkets will probably be able to make up for any shortages by importing food from elsewhere, he said the drought is likely to impact the availability of some homegrown produce in the autumn.
While farmers struggle to produce potatoes and grains, the warm, dry spring has also seen an abundance of crops like strawberries and asparagus which “arrived early and in large volumes”, said Kathryn Reynolds, senior resilience manager at the Institute of Grocery Distribution.
“Accelerated crop development is testing the agility of UK food systems, with unexpected surpluses putting pressure on storage, labour and logistics.
Wildfires
Hot, dry weather also increases the likelihood of wildfires. The area of the UK burnt by wildfires this year is already higher than the total for any other year in the past decade, according to satellite data.
However, experts warn the continued dry weather could lead to more summer wildfires, like the one that ripped through the outskirts of east London in 2022.
Burnt fields and houses destroyed following a major fire in Wennington, Greater London (Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty)“We have already seen in Yorkshire unusually large moorland fires this spring, and the continued lack of rainfall could lead to more wildfires over the summer months.”
Professor Rein said the public should be careful around “any potential ignition source, such as barbecues, bonfires, off-road vehicles, or discarded cigarettes, and report any signs of fire immediately”.
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